We round up a list of top stars who will be dropping new music over the next few months

The next couple of months looks set to be an exciting time of new comebacks from some of the industry’s top singers and bands, starting with K-pop boy group EXO’s repackaged album later today.

Ahead, we’ve compiled a [non-exhaustive] rundown of some of the most highly-anticipated – and confirmed – musical releases that we can’t wait to add to our playlists.

EXO05 Sep 2017

EXO

New album: THE WAR: The Power of MusicRelease date: September 5 (5pm Singapore time)

This isn’t your ordinary repackaged album: in addition to three new songs on top of the original nine from The War, EXO’s THE WAR: The Power of Music will also come in a gorgeous comic book-like set, including character cards and graphic novel pages.

SM Entertainment began dropping hints about the big return two weeks ago with a cryptic animation that was released at the same time as the total solar eclipse in the United States. Three more clips – including the main music video teaser – were eventually released, two of which gave us a listen at a portion of comeback single ‘Power’ (which, in our opinion, already sounds like it’s going to be an earworm-worthy jam).

There is also a possibility that EXO’s assigned “superpowers” will come into full play (for instance, Suho’s hydrokinesis and Chanyeol’s pyrokinesis), making this the perfect combination for devotees of both sci-fi and K-pop. May the force be with EXO!

Photos: EXO/Facebook

Wang Leehom05 Sep 2017

Wang Leehom

New album: A.I.Release date: September 15

The Mandopop prince utilises a pretty clever play on words – and shows off his bilingual skills – for the title of his upcoming mini-album: as he explained in his Facebook announcement, “In English, A.I. stands for artificial intelligence, but it in Chinese, it's pinyin for the word ‘Love’ (愛). The most human of emotions, juxtaposed with the most artificial of human constructs”.

Just like its futuristic title suggests, the 41-year-old said the album will be full of breakthroughs and that he is looking forward to bringing his listeners an innovative combination of music, science and technology.

We see a glimpse of the new Leehom in a couple of photos uploaded on his social media accounts: the classic suits and casual T-shirts have been replaced with slick, avant-garde getups (that gold outfit in particular looks pretty intense), preparing us for the “visual and auditory shock” he teased. We already can’t wait.

Photos: Wang Leehom/Facebook

BTS05 Sep 2017

BTS

New album: Love Yourself ‘Her’Release date: September 18

We don’t think anyone has ever been happier to see a picture of someone in a wheelchair than when BigHit Entertainment uploaded an image of BTS’s Jungkook on August 11. Don’t worry, he’s totally fine – the picture was just the first of many individual teasers leading up to the upcoming release of the group’s new album Love Yourself ‘Her’.

And as if the beautifully-shot photos weren’t enough, BigHit levelled up and treated us to a series of elaborate highlight reels, which were eventually combined into a 13 minute-long mini drama. The company also began unveiling short “comeback trailers” last night, the first of which features member Jimin.

While the videos left us with more questions than answers (although there are plenty of convincing fan theories out there to help lessen the confusion), it certainly helped to boost the hype: there are already over 1 million pre-orders for the album in Korea alone. That is a lot of love, indeed.

Photos: BigHit Entertainment/Twitter

A-Lin05 Sep 2017

A-Lin

New album: A-LINRelease date: September 20

The Taiwanese songstress is finally coming back with a new self-titled, self-produced record after three years. This time, after paying heed to feedback from listeners, she vowed to offer a fresh sound and tackle a wider range of genres, and complemented the growth with a fresh look by chopping off her long locks.

The promised variety is already starting to show with the two pre-released singles: while ‘Go’ has A-Lin venturing into relatively unfamiliar EDM territory, we still get to hear what she does best with ‘Pseudo-Single, Yet Single’, a heart-wrenching piano ballad with an equally sombre music video co-starring Wallace Huo.

So whether you’re in the camp that disagrees with assessments that she produces too many tear-jerking tracks, or the one that’s longing for a departure from her usual syrupy style, don’t worry – there’s bound to be something for everyone!

Photos: Sony Music Entertainment

Miley Cyrus05 Sep 2017

Miley Cyrus

New album: Younger NowRelease date: September 29

Say goodbye to the Miley who once shocked everyone with her racy antics and outfits (it might be a while before we can forget her twerk-tastic performance with Robin Thicke at the 2013 MTV VMAs), and say hello to a more toned down, conservative and mature Miley.

Whatever it is that sparked the sudden and stark change (perhaps her reconciliation with off-again, on-again fiancé Liam Hemsworth?), we welcome the unexpected reinvention. Just two years ago, she was smoking weed, swearing and licking mystery glittery substances in her [rather icky, to be honest] music video for ‘Dooo It!’; and two weeks ago, we saw her dancing with seniors and playing with puppets in her latest release ‘Younger Now’.

Perhaps that is what the 24-year-old means when she sings, “No one stays the same; you know what goes up must come down; change is a thing you can count on; I feel so much younger now”. We hope the wholesomeness is here to stay.

Photos: Miley Cyrus/Facebook

Pink05 Sep 2017

Pink

New album: Beautiful TraumaRelease date: October 13

Has it really been five years since Pink’s last album!? The wait for new tunes ends next month, but the diva’s first single from the record, soaring power ballad ‘What About Us’, has already been making waves – and topped charts – since its release in early August.

Just looking at the dream team she has assembled for Beautiful Trauma is enough to get us even more stoked: there’s Jack Antonoff (who’s penned hits for Lorde and Taylor Swift), producer extraordinaire Max Martin and songwriter-turned-singer Julia Michaels, for instance.

Pink herself has stated that she is “certifiably, insanely proud of this album”, which we take as a codename for, “Get ready to have your mind blown and socks knocked off by how awesome the new record is”. Our bodies are ready for the Trauma.

Photos: Pink/Facebook

Eason Chan05 Sep 2017

Eason Chan

New album: C’mon in~Release date: October 9

The veteran crooner and Sing! China judge is set to drop his first Mandarin album in three years early next month. At a recent fan meeting, the 43-year-old admitted that the record was supposed to come out last year, but in the end, he decided to spend a little more time on it.

Despite the delay and the fact that the official release date is still over a month away, fans have already had the chance to listen to several songs that will be on C’mon in~, such as ‘Soar’, ‘Sigh’ and ‘Relax’, from as early as May this year.

The busy bee says C’mon in~ Tour 2017 will commence shortly after the album release with a two-day showcase in Hong Kong on October 11 and 12. And guess what – he’ll be bringing the tour over to Singapore as well on December 3, 8pm at the Singapore Indoor Stadium! Tickets are priced at $208, $178, $148, $118 (excluding booking fees) and go on sale September 15 on SportsHubTix. Yay!

Photos: TPG/CLICKPHOTOS

Taylor Swift05 Sep 2017

Taylor Swift

New album: ReputationRelease date: November 10

Love her or hate her, you can’t deny that Taylor still has the power to get people talking.

The pop princess caused a huge stir when she began uploading cryptic videos of a snake on her social media platforms on August 21. The vague teasers eventually culminated in the release of her new single ‘Look What You Made Me Do’, accompanied by an amusingly self-aware – some might say petty – music video in which she brazenly parodies various rumours or past happenings involving her.

The 27-year-old dropped another bombshell last Sunday with the release of another single, ‘Ready For It?’, which was teased with a minute-long snippet at a college football game the previous day. Bold and bassy, the song further teased her exodus from the musical style that we knew and loved, but we still have faith that Tay Tay and Reputation will slay.